'state  street 

EVENTSj 

A   Brief  Account  of  divers 

i\otablc  Persons  ^f  sundry 
Stirring  Ez'evts  having  to 
do  with  the  History  of  this 
{ncient  Street 


5  Imprinted  for  the 
F     -TREFT    TRT'sT   fOMPAVV 

■ ap  Boston  -         " 

On  the  Occasion  of  the  25th  Anniversary 
of  its  Founding 

1916 


Copyright,  1916 

BY   THE 

State  Street  Trust  Company 


F 13.  £7 


253639 

EOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
.CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


Compiled,  arranged  and  printed  by  direction  of 

Walton  Advertising  &  Printing  Co. 

Boston,  Mass. 


J 


FO  RE  W  O  RD 

The  State  Street  Trust  Company  on  the  25th  anniversary  of  its 
founding  is  distributing  to  its  depositors  and  to  others  who  may  be 
interested,  this  pamphlet,  similar  to  those  issued  annually,  and  at 
the  same  time  ventures  to  give  a  very  brief  account  of  its  early  days. 
The  directors  of  the  Company  in  deciding  upon  a  name  very  wisely 
chose  "  State  Street"  owing  to  the  prominent  part  this  street  has  played 
in  the  history  of  Boston  from  the  early  days  of  the  Colony  up  to  the 
present  time.  This  would  seem,  therefore,  an  appropriate  time  to 
relate  briefly  some  of  the  important  events  that  have  taken  place  on 
State  Street. 

Acknowledgments  and  thanks  are  due  to  the  following  for  assist- 
ance in  the  preparation  of  this  booklet: 

Augustus  P.  Loring  for  assistance  in  connection  with  Boston  Mas- 
sacre events;  William  C.  Lane  of  the  Widener  Library,  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, for  help  in  connection  with  the  Louisburg  Cross  article; 
Charles  F.  Read  and  other  officials  of  the  Bostonian  Society  for  the 
use  of  a  number  of  prints;  Otto  Fleischner  and  other  officials  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  for  courteous  assistance  in  the  selection  of 
books  of  reference;  and  Walter  K.  Watkins,  for  suggestions  as  to 
various  events. 

In  conclusion  the  Trust  Company  expresses  its  thanks  for  the  gener- 
ous patronage  of  the  public  which  it  has  always  received,  and  which 
it  hopes  it  may  continue  to  deserve  in  the  future. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Early  Days  of  the  Trust  Company 5 

Boston's  First  Merchant 7 

The  First  Meeting-house  in  Boston  erected  on  State  Street 7 

Miantonomo,  the  Indian  Chief,  visits  State  Street 10 

List  of  Subscribers  to  build  the  "Old  Town  House" n 

Triumphal  Return  of  the  Louisburg  Expedition 13 

First  Play  acted  in  Boston  and  the  Results 18 

Arrival  of  the  British  Troops  at  Long  Wharf 21 

Assault  on  James  Otis 23 

Funeral  Procession  of  the  Massacre  Victims 25 

"Sam  Adams's  Regiments" 31 

John  Malcolm,  Collector  of  Customs,  is  tarred  and  feathered    ....  34 

Declaration  of  Independence  read 36 

Civic  Feast  on  State  Street      3 8 

Funeral  Procession  of  John  Hancock 4° 

"Bloody  Monday"  on  State  Street 41 

Arrival  of  Commodore  Bainbridge  after  his  Victory      45 

Anthony  Burns  led  down  State  Street  to  be  returned  to  Slavery    .    .  46 

Submarine  Walking  Race  from  Long  Wharf  to  East  Boston 49 

[  3  ] 


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<  a 


EARLY  DAYS   OF 
THE  TRUST  COMPANY 


TWENTY-FIVE  years  ago  to-day,  June  9,  1891,  the  State 
Street  Trust  Company  held  its  first  directors'  meeting  in 
order  to  form  the  necessary  plans  for  beginning  business. 

The  Company  was  started  by  some  of  the  directors  and  officers  of 
the  Third  National  Bank  who  believed  it  would  be  a  convenience  for 
the  box  renters  of  the  State  Street  Safe  Deposit  Company  to  have  a 
Trust  Company  in  the  same  room,  in  order  that  the  box  renters  might 
have  an  accessible  place  in  which  to  deposit  or  cash  their  coupons. 
The  Third  National  Bank  at  this  time  had  its  rooms  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  same  building.  The  #300,000  stock  of  the  Trust  Com- 
pany was  first  offered  to  the  stockholders  of  the  Third  National  Bank 
and  was  almost  all  subscribed  by  them. 

Moses  Williams,  Joseph  B.  Russell,  Eliot  C.  Clarke,  Frederic  J. 
Stimson,  Edward  Atkinson,  Thomas  O.  Richardson,  Charles  E.  Samp- 
son, Arthur  Wainwright,  and  Francis  B.  Sears  were  present  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Board.  Mr.  Williams,  Mr.  Russell,  and  Mr. 
Clarke  are  still  serving  as  directors,  the  two  former  being  also  of- 
ficers, and  Mr.  Stimson  resigned  only  last  year  to  accept  a  diplo- 
matic position.  At  the  second  meeting  William  L.  Chase  and  Royal 
E.  Robbins  were  added  to  the  Board,  the  former  becoming  Vice- 
President.  Charles  Lowell  was  the  first  actuary,  continuing  in  this 
position  until  his  death  in  1906.  Colonel  William  L.  Chase  died 
shortly  after  the  organization  of  the  Company. 

On  the  first  of  July  of  the  same  year  the  Company  started  in  busi- 
ness with  offices  in  the  basement  of  the  Exchange  Building,  directly 
under  the  present  rooms  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank.  At  the  end 
of  the  day  new  accounts,  amounting  to  #8,898,  had  been  opened  by 
six  depositors,  who  have  banked  with  the  Company  ever  since,  or 
until  their  death.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  loan  taken 
by  the  bank  was  on  Boston  &  Maine  stock,  which  at  that  time  was 
selling  at  #165  a  share.     (The  loan  has  since  been  paid!) 

When   the  Third   National   Bank  was   consolidated  with  the  Na- 

[  5] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

tional  Shawmut  Bank,  the  Trust  Company  became  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  outside  institutions  and  has  remained  so  ever  since.  This 
policy,  combined  with  the  best  of  banking  facilities  and  courteous 
attention,  has  been  the  greatest  factor  in  the  large  and  steady  increase 
of  the  Company's  deposits.  A  number  of  officers  and  clerks  have 
been  with  the  Company  for  more  than  seventeen  years,  which  helps 
to  ensure  efficient  service  to  its  customers. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1900  the  Company  moved  from 
its  early  location  in  the  Exchange  Building  to  the  Union  Building, 
occupying  the  offices  on  the  corner  of  State  and  Exchange  Streets. 
The  deposits  at  this  time  were  about  #2,000,000,  and  after  being 
in  this  excellent  location  eleven  years  these  figures  rose  to  about 
$13,000,000.  In  the  present  offices  in  the  Worthington  Building  the 
deposits  have  grown  to  over  #24,000,000,  represented  by  over  fifteen 
thousand  accounts.  The  increase  in  deposits  at  each  five-year  period 
is  as  follows: — 

January  1,  1896 #1,241,353.10 

1901 2,085,494.86 

1906 7,180,658.66 

1911 13,365,237-97 

1916 22,313,338.22 

In  addition  to  the  increased  space,  another  inducement  to  move  to 
the  Worthington  Building  was  in  order  to  have  safe  deposit  vaults. 

In  1902  it  was  voted  to  open  a  Branch  Office  on  Massachusetts 
Avenue  for  the  convenience  of  residents  in  that  vicinity,  and  in  1905 
the  Company  erected  its  present  building  on  the  corner  of  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue  and  Boylston  Street.  This  office  is  also  equipped 
with  safe  deposit  vaults,  and  is  used  by  about  3,000  depositors. 

The  capital  stock  has  twice  been  increased  until  it  now  stands  at 
#1,000,000,  and  #1,650,000  in  surplus  and  profits. 

In  February  of  this  year  the  Company  purchased  the  assets  and 
good-will  of  the  Paul  Revere  Trust  Company,  which  gives  the  State 
Street  Trust  Company  four  offices:  two  down  town,  one  at  33  State 
Street  and  the  other  at  50  Devonshire  Street;  and  two  in  the  Back 
Bay,  the  Copley  Square  Branch  being  located  at  579  Boylston  Street, 
and  the  Massachusetts  Avenue  office  being  situated  at  the  corner  of 
Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Boylston  Street. 

[6] 


BOSTON'S   FIRST  MERCHANT 

(JOHN  COGGAN  was  the  first  merchant  in  Boston, 
and  his  shop  was  on  the  northwest  corner  of  State 
and  Washington  Streets.  His  stock  consisted  of 
general  merchandise,  and  from  this  store  really 
begins  the  trade  of  Boston.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  the  politics  of  the  town,  serving  at  various  times 
as  selectman,  constable,  and  juror.  He  also  gave  freely  to  Harvard 
College.  It  was  in  1632  that  he  came  to  Dorchester  from  the  "est 
of  England,  Devon,"  which  was  noted  for  its  laces.  A  bill  of  lading, 
dated  in  1650,  shows  that  he  received  on  the  Eagle  of  London,  George 
Raymond,  master,  £15  worth  of  haberdashery  and  "Crooked  Lane 
ware,"  so  named  on  account  of  the  lane  which  was  just  below  his 
store.  In  the  same  shipment  he  received  ten  dozen  of  shoes,  worsted 
and  woollen  yarn  valued  at  £5.  He  married  the  widow  of  Governor 
Winthrop,  who  died  tvvo  years  after  Coggan,  "not  without  suspicion 
of  poison." 

From  the  time  this  first  store  was  opened  Boston  has  been  pri- 
marily a  city  of  business  men,  so  much  so  that  Motley  remarked 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  banner  suspended  on  Castle  Island  bearing 
the  words,  "No  admittance  except  on  business." 

THE  FIRST  MEETING-HOUSE  IN  BOSTON   ERECTED  ON 
STATE   STREET 

Rev.  John  Wilson,  who  came  over  with  Winthrop,  and  who  was 
the  first  pastor  of  the  Colony,  preached  in  a  rough,  thatched-roof 
meeting-house,  which  was  built  in  1632  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Brazer  Building,  on  State  Street.  His  place  of  residence  was  almost 
opposite,  extending  on  both  sides  of  Crooked  Lane,  which  ran  from 
State  Street  to  Dock  Square.  This  byway  was  later  called  Wilson's 
Lane,  and  it  is  now  a  part  of  Devonshire  Street.  The  lane  became 
noted  for  its  eating-houses,  and  to  it  could  be  applied  the  lines  of 
Tom  Hood: — 

[  7  ] 


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STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


"I've  heard  about  a  pleasant  land  where  omelets  grow  on  trees, 
And  roasted  pigs  run  crying  out,  'Come  eat  us,  if  you  please.' 
My  appetite  is  rather  keen,  but  how  shall  I  get  there? 
Straight  down  the  Crooked  Lane  and  all  around  the  square." 

To  this  first  meeting-house  came  Governor  Winthrop  and  Governor 
Dudley,  and  also  John  Cotton  to  preach.  Services  were  at  first  an- 
nounced by  the  beat  of  a  drum,  later  on  by  blowing  a  shell  or  horn 
or  by  raising  a  flag  over  the  roof. 

John  Wilson,  previous  to  the  building  of  his  church  on  State  Street, 
used  to  preach  in  Charlestown  under  a  big  tree.  Some  years  later 
he  established  for  himself  the  reputation  of  making  the  first  "stump" 
speech  in  this  part  of  the  world.  He  delivered  it  from  the  bough  of 
a  tree  and  turned  the  scale  in  favor  of  Governor  Winthrop's  election. 

\\  hen  State  Street  was  in  its  infancy,  Sagamore  John  was  a  chief 
and  ruled  over  thirty  warriors.  He  was  a  good  chief  and  a  friend  of 
the  white  people.  When  smallpox  visited  his  settlement  Mr.  Wilson 
fought  the  disease  with  a  devotion  equalled  only  by  that  of  Governor 
\\  inthrop  himself.  Finally  Sagamore  John  himself  lay  in  his  wigwam 
dying. 

"Now."  said  he,  "I  must  die.  The  God  of  the  English  is  very 
angry  with  me.  He  will  destroy  me.  Ah!  I  was  afraid  of  the  scoffs 
of  the  wicked  Indians.  Yet  my  child  shall  live  with  the  English,  and 
learn  to  know  their  God  when  I  am  dead." 

When  he  gave  his  boy  into  Mr.  Wilson's  care  he  said: 

"Mr.  Wilson  is  much  good  man  and  much  love  me." 

The  Indian  lad  was  brought  up  in  the  minister's  family. 

Hawthorne  gives  of  Wilson  a  word  picture,  in  which  he  describes 
the  minister  visiting  the  sick  by  night.  Hawthorne  guides  his  steps 
with  a  lantern  that  throws  fantastic  shadows  over  the  low  buildings 
in  State  Street,  and  he  pictures  its  rays  as  forming  a  halo,  such  as 
would  bless  a  saint,  above  his  head. 

John  Wilson  was  gentle  and  always  cheerful.  He  was  present  once 
at  a  general  muster  of  troops.  A  gentleman  standing  near  by  said  to 
him:  "Sir,  IT1  tell  you  a  great  thing!  Here's  a  mighty  body  of  people 
and  there  is  not  seven  of  them  all  who  do  not  love  Mr.  Wilson!" 

"Sir,"  instantly  responded  the  minister,  "I'll  tell  you  as  good  a 
thing  as  that!  Here's  a  mighty  body  of  people  and  there  is  not  so 
much  as  one  of  them  all  but  Mr.  Wilson  loves  him." 

[9  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

Another  anecdote  is  told  which  well  describes  the  man.  Mather 
in  his  "Magnalia"  says:  "Divers  times  his  house  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  which  he  bore  with  such  a  cheerful  submission  that  when  one  met 
him  on  the  road  informing  him,  'Sir,  I  have  sad  news  for  you;  while 
you  have  been  abroad  your  house  is  burnt/  his  first  answer  was, 
'Blessed  be  God;  He  has  burnt  this  house  because  He  intends  to  give 
me  a  better.'" 

He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  after  serving  the  First  Church 
of  Boston  for  thirty-seven  years. 

In  1640  a  new  meeting-house  was  built  on  the  land  now  occupied 
by  the  Joy  Building  on  Washington  Street,  and  here  were  heard  the 
first  church  organ  and  the  first  meeting-house  bell  ever  brought  to 
Boston.  John  Joy  purchased  the  property  in  1808,  and  the  church 
again  moved  to  Chauncy  Street.  In  1868  the  present  building  of 
the  First  Church  was  erected  on  the  corner  of  Marlborough  and 
Berkeley  Streets,  and  the  statue  of  John  Winthrop  just  outside  was 
placed  there  to  commemorate  one  of  the  first  parishioners  of  the  old 
First  Church  on  State  Street. 


MIANTONOMO,  THE  INDIAN  CHIEF,  VISITS  STATE  STREET 

It  is  related   that  on  the  3d   of  August,  1632,  a  haughty  Narra- 

gansett  chief,  called  Miantonomo,  appeared  in  the  market-place  on 

State   Street  accompanied  by  thirteen  Indians,  one  of  whom  was  a 

._  squaw.     He  was  a   powerful   man 

among  his  people,  who,  it  is  said, 
trembled  when  he  spoke.  He  was 
friendly  toward  the  English  and  on 
this  visit  was  entertained  by  the 
Governor.  He  went  to  church,  but 
his  men,  not  being  inclined  to  listen 
to  something  which  they  did  not 
understand,  decided  not  to  accom- 
pany their  chief.  They  found  the 
houses  of  the  church-goers  of  much 
greater  interest  and  amused  them- 
selves by  breaking  and  stealing, 
for  which  offence  it  was  ordered 
by  the  Governor  that  the  offenders 

[  10] 


KILLING  OF  MIANTONOMO 
From  "The  History  and  Antiquities  of  Bos- 
ton," by  Samuel  G.  Drake 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

be  whipped  by  one  of  their  own  tribe.  This  curious  punishment 
was  carried  out. 

In  1636  Governor  Vane  invited  the  Narragansett  chief  to  come  to 
Boston.  Mr.  Oldham  had  been  murdered  by  the  Indians,  and  things 
looked  serious  for  both  the  red  men  and  the  whites.  The  Governor, 
with  twenty  musketeers,  went  to  Roxbury  to  meet  his  guest  and 
escorted  him  to  town.  The  chieftain  himself,  with  his  council,  dined 
with  the  Governor,  his  men  being  sent  around  to  Cole's  Inn  on  Mer- 
chants Row,  near  State  Street,  where  they  were  fed  sumptuously  by 
"mine  host."  The  Indians  did  not  use  chairs,  but  sat  around  in  a 
circle  on  the  floor  with  an  iron  pot  of  meat  in  the  centre,  into  which 
they  plunged  their  hands  until  they  had  had  their  fill. 

A  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  same  day  between  the  Narragansett 
tribe  and  the  English,  which  was  faithfully  kept  by  the  Indians, 
though  it  was  thought  at  the  time  that  perhaps  they  did  not  under- 
stand the  full  meaning  of  it.  After  signing  the  treaty,  Miantonomo 
and  his  retinue  were  formally  escorted  from  town  and  "dismissed 
with  a  volley  of  shot."  While  in  Boston  the  chief  astonished  every 
one  "by  his  good  understanding  of  justice  and  equality." 

Several  years  later,  Miantonomo  was  captured  by  Uncas,  the  leader 
of  another  tribe.  The  Commissioners  of  the  united  colonies,  to  whom 
his  case  was  submitted,  met  in  Boston,  and,  with  the  advice  of  the 
Elders,  the  most  extraordinary  vote  was  passed  permitting  Uncas 
to  put  his  captive  to  death.  As  Miantonomo  was  being  conducted 
through  the  woods,  the  brother  of  Uncas  came  up  from  behind  and 
"clave  his  head  with  an  hatchet."  Thus,  it  was  the  English,  not  the 
Indians,  who  first  broke  the  treaty  made  some  years  before. 

LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS  TO  BUILD  THE  "OLD  TOWN  HOUSE" 

The  Selectmen  of  the  town  met  on  January  25,  1657,  to  consider 
Captain  Robert  Keayne's  bequest  of  £300  to  assist  in  building  a  Town 
House.  A  town  meeting  was  held  in  March,  at  which  Captain  Thomas 
Savage,  Anthony  Stoddard,  Jeremy  Howchin,  and  Edward  Hutchinson, 
Sr.,  were  chosen  a  committee  to  take  up  the  question  of  a  Town 
House,  to  report  on  the  most  convenient  situation,  "to  take  the  sub- 
scriptions of  the  inhabitants  to  propogate  such  a  building  and  sea- 
sonably to  make  report  to  a  public  towne  meeting."  Subscription 
papers  were  circulated  among  the  people,  this  most  interesting  list  now 

[  11  ] 


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FIRST  PAGE  OF  THE  LIST  OF  CONTRIBUTORS  TO  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF 
THE  FIRST  BOSTON  TOWN  HOUSE 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

CONTRIBUTORS   TO    THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF   THE  FIRST 
BOSTON   TOWN  HOUSE 

John  Endicott,  Governor  of  the  colony.  Richard  Bellingham,  Deputy- 
Governor,  and  lawyer.  Edward  Tyng,  brewer  and  merchant.  John  Evered, 
alias  Webb,  merchant.  Peter  Oliver,  trader.  John  Barrell,  cooper.  James 
Oliver,  merchant.  William  Paine,  merchant.  Richard  Parker,  merchant. 
Nathaniell  Williams,  glover.  Sarah  Parker,  widow.  Henry  Powning,  trader. 
John  Coggan,  merchant.  Theodore  Atkinson,  feltmaker  and  hatter.  Thomas 
Hawkins,  shipwright.  John  Hull,  silversmith.  Thomas  Clark,  draper  and 
merchant.  Robert  Turner,  vintner  and  innholder.  Richard  Cooke,  tailor. 
Robert  Swift.  (The  identity  of  this  person  is  in  doubt.)  Samuel  Hutchinson, 
merchant.     Joshua  Scottow,  merchant. 


being  in  the  possession  of  the  Bostonian  Society.  A  photograph  of  the 
first  few  signatures  is  shown  on  the  opposite  page.  Governor  John 
Endicott  heads  the  subscription  with  a  donation  of  £2  10s.  in  cash. 
The  signature  of  Richard  Bellingham,  Deputy  Governor,  was  inserted 
so  as  to  have  it  follow  John  Endicott's.  He  made  his  subscription  in 
country  pay,  wheat  and  barley  being  valued  at  4s.  6d.  per  bushel,  peas 
at  4J-.,  rye  at  3/.,  and  Indian  corn  at  2s.  6d.  The  third  autograph  is 
that  of  Edward  Tyng,  a  London  merchant,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  Francis  Sears.  John  Evered  is  known  to  us  only  from  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  whaleman  and  met  his  death  by  being  caught  by  the  whale 
line  and  drowned.  Peter  Oliver  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Old 
South  Church,  and  James  Oliver  owned  a  house  and  garden  on  State 
Street  near  the  corner  of  Merchants  Row.  William  Paine  was  a 
merchant  of  Ispwich,  Mass.,  and  owned  an  iron  foundry  at  Saugus. 
Richard  Parker  had  his  home  on  Court  Street,  just  east  of  the  Old 
Court  House.  It  is  impossible  to  mention  any  more  names  on  this 
list  as  they  are  too  numerous.  In  all,  about  two  hundred  people  re- 
sponded to  the  appeals  for  money,  provisions,  labor,  and  material  for 
the  building  of  this  first  Town  House,  which,  when  finished,  was  de- 
scribed as  "a  wooden  house  built  upon  pillars,"  as  shown  on  the 
following  page. 

TRIUMPHAL  RETURN  OF  THE  LOUISBURG  EXPEDITION 

A  splendid  reception  awaited  Governor  Shirley  when  he  returned 
to  Boston  in  the  Massachusetts  frigate  in  November,  1745,  after 
having  successfully  captured  the  strong  French  fortress  of  Louis- 
burg.     He  spent  the  night  at  the  "Castle"  and  was  brought  from 

[  13  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


&-r^-rc 


VIEW  OF  THE  FIRST  BOSTON  TOWN   HOUSE  DRAWN  FROM  THE 

BUILDER'S  SPECIFICATIONS 

Courtesy  of  J.  H.  Benton 

there  to  Long  Wharf,  now  the  lower  end  of  State  Street,  in  the  Castle 
barge,  amid  continuous  salutes.  As  he  and  his  retinue  landed,  more 
salutes  rang  forth  from  all  the  vessels  in  the  harbour,  and  crowds  of 
joyful  citizens  were  on  hand  to  welcome  him.  On  the  wharf  were 
assembled  His  Majesty's  Council,  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  magis- 
trates and  gentlemen  and  merchants  of  the  town.  A  regiment  of 
militia,  under  Colonel  Jacob  Wendell,  a  troop  of  horse,  under  Colonel 
Estes  Hatch,  and  the  Cadets,  under  Colonel  Benjamin  Pollard,  were 
drawn  up  along  King  Street,  and  the  bells  of  the  town  rang  forth  as 
the  Governor  and  his  officers  marched  past.  An  illumination  and 
fireworks  during  the  evening  ended  the  festivities. 

General  Pepperell,  the  commander  of  the  expedition,  returned 
some  months  later  and  met  with  a  similar  reception,  being  escorted  up 
State  Street  to  the  Town  House,  where  addresses  were  delivered  by 
some  of  the  Representatives.  He  stayed  in  Boston  only  a  short 
time,  going  from  here  to  his  seat  at  Kittery,  Maine.  Almost  the  only 
account  that  can  be  found  of  his  march  up  State  Street  is  in  an  old 
scrap  book  of  the  time  and  reads  as  follows:    "Massachusetts  gave 

[  14  ] 


THE  LOUISBURG  CROSS 

Brought  back  from  the  capture  of  Louisburg 
by  the  Massachusetts  troops  in  1745.  It  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  Harvard  University 
and  is  in  the  treasure  room  of  the  college 
library. 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

Pepperell,  the  hero  of  Louisburg,  an  ovation  of  such  splendor  that  it 
seemed  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants; 
State  Street  was  a  tumult  of  display  and  excitement." 

The  victors  brought  back  with  them  a  relic  known  as  the  Louisburg 
Cross,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  taken  from  the  parish  church 
of  the  Recollets.  It  is  now  owned  by  Harvard  University,  but,  curi- 
ously enough,  it  has  never  been  discovered  how  it  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  College.  It  was  first  placed  in  the  library  in  Harvard 
Hall,  but  when  Gore  Hall  was  built  it  was  removed  to  a  building  which 
was  erected  behind  the  Charles  River  National  Bank  to  exhibit  the 
Panorama  of  Athens,  a  gift  to  the  College  by  Theodore  Lyman.  This 
structure  was  burned,  but  the  Cross  by  good  luck  was  rescued  and 
placed  in  Gore  Hall.  Here  it  remained  for  some  time  in  the  cellar, 
finally  being  taken,  in  the  year  1877,  from  its  unattractive  surround- 
ings by  the  librarian,  Mr.  Winsor,  who  removed  it  to  a  gable  over  one 
of  the  doors  of  the  hall,  as  shown  in  the  picture  on  page  15.  In 
October,  1895,  it  was  stolen,  undoubtedly  by  a  member  of  one  of  the 
secret  societies.  So  securely  had  it  been  fastened  to  the  stonework 
that  it  had  to  be  wrenched  and  twisted  until  it  finally  broke  off.  Not 
a  word  was  heard  about  it  for  over  two  years,  when  one  morning  as 
the  assistant  librarian,  Mr.  Kiernan,  was  entering  the  hall  he  saw 
the  missing  Cross  lying  on  the  roof  near  the  place  from  which  it  was 
stolen.  The  singular  part  of  this  restoration  is  that  the  Boston 
Record  published  an  article  giving  the  news  of  its  return  one  day 
before  the  Cross  was  discovered  by  Mr.  Kiernan.  In  19 1 2  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Hammond,  the  chairman  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars,  was 
instrumental  in  having  it  placed  in  the  college  library  with  a  suitably 
inscribed  tablet,  both  of  which  can  be  seen  now  in  the  Widener  build- 
ing. 

The  expedition  against  Louisburg  has  been  called  an  "uncommonly 
rash  adventure";  nevertheless,  it  turned  out  most  successfully,  and 
every  one  connected  with  it,  from  the  Governor  down  to  the  private 
soldier,  was  the  recipient  of  congratulations.  An  address  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Governor,  "signed  by  seventy  of  the  principal  Gentle- 
men, Merchants  and  Traders,"  complimenting  him  upon  the  capture 
of  the  citadel.  He  was  also  referred  to  as  "the  projector  of  the  late 
happy  expedition,"  and  his  "zeal  and  vigilance"  were  especially 
mentioned.  Governor  Shirley's  reply  was  most  modest,  claiming 
only  "a  desire  for  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  Province  in  gen- 

[  16  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

eral,  and  the  Town  of  Boston  in  particular."  The  Rev.  Thomas 
Prince  preached  a  sermon  of  jubilation  at  the  Old  South  Church  not 
long  after,  and  almost  in  the  midst  of  the  rejoicing  word  was  received 
through  a  fisherman  that  the  French  fleet  under  the  Duke  d'Anville 
was  approaching  the  harbour  with  orders  to  burn  and  destroy  Boston. 
Great  were  the  preparations  made  to  defend  the  town;  ten  thousand 
men  journeyed  long  distances  to  take  up  arms,  and  the  Governor 
ordered  Castle  William  strengthened  and  the  harbour  fortified.  Troops 
were  seen  in  daily  drills  on  the  Common,  which  became  a  military 
camp,  and  at  night  camp-fires  blazed  on  many  of  the  hills.  Business 
came  to  an  end,  every  one  having  only  one  concern,  that  of  repelling 
the  invader.  The  alarm  soon  died  away,  for  nearly  all  the  French 
ships  of  war  were  destroyed  by  tempests  on  their  way  to  Boston,  and 
the  commander  is  said  to  have  committed  suicide.  The  following 
verses  by  Longfellow  describing  this  event — so  fortunate  for  Bostoni- 
ans — may  prove  interesting.  The  author  portrays  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Prince  as  repeating  them  to  his  congregation. 

A   BALLAD   OF  THE   FRENCH   FLEET 
October,  1746 

MR.    THOMAS    PRINCE    loquiiUT 

A  fleet  with  flags  arrayed 

Sailed  from  the  Port  of  Brest, 
And  the  Admiral's  ship  displayed 

The  signal,  "Steer  southwest." 
For  this  Admiral  d'Anville 

Had  sworn  by  cross  and  crown 
To  ravage  with  fire  and  steel 

Our  helpless  Boston  town. 

There  were  rumors  in  the  street, 

In  the  houses  there  was  fear 
Of  the  coming  of  the  fleet, 

And  the  danger  hovering  near; 
And  while  from  mouth  to  mouth 

Spread  the  tidings  of  dismay, 
I  stood  in  the  Old  South, 

Saying  humbly,  "Let  us  pray! 

L  17  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

"O  Lord!  we  would  not  advise; 

But  if  in  thy  providence 
A  tempest  should  arise 

To  drive  the  French  fleet  hence, 
And  scatter  it  far  and  wide, 

Or  sink  it  in  the  sea, 
We  should  be  satisfied, 

And  thine  the  glory  be." 

This  was  the  prayer  I  made, 

For  my  soul  was  all  on  flame; 
And  even  as  I  prayed, 

The  answering  tempest  came, — 
It  came  with  a  mighty  power, 

Shaking  the  windows  and  walls, 
And  tolling  the  bell  in  the  tower 

As  it  tolls  at  funerals. 


The  fleet  it  overtook, 

And  the  broad  sails  in  the  van 
Like  the  tents  of  Cushan  shook, 

Or  the  curtains  of  Midian. 
Down  on  the  reeling  decks 

Crashed  the  o'erwhelming  seas; 
Ah!  never  were  there  wrecks 

So  pitiful  as  these! 

Like  a  potter's  vessel  broke 

The  great  ships  of  the  line; 
They  were  carried  away  as  a  smoke, 

Or  sank  like  lead  in  the  brine. 
O  Lord!  before  thy  path 

They  vanished  and  ceased  to  be, 
When  thou  didst  walk  in  wrath 

With  thine  horses  through  the  sea! 


FIRST    PLAY    ACTED    IN    BOSTON"    AXD    THE    RESULTS 

The  first  play  acted  in  Boston  caused  a  riot,  and  many  of  the  specta- 
tors spent  that  night  in  the  town  jail.  Most  of  Boston  wanted  to 
witness  the  performance,  and  as  the  seating  capacity  of  the  British 
CofTee  House  on  King  Street,  now  State  Street,  was  very  limited, 

[  18  ] 


BRITISH  COFFEE  HOUSE  ON  STATE  STREET 

Is  the  Building  in  foreground.     In  it  the  first  play  in  Boston  was  acted,  and  here  James  Otis 
was  assaulted.     From  a  painting  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

only  those  who  were  the  strongest  could  gain  admittance.  This  Coffee 
House  is  shown  on  the  preceding  page. 

Cotton  Mather,  as  early  as  1686,  in  an  article  which  he  wrote 
against  "Profane  and  Superstitious  Customs,"  said,  "There  is  much 
discourse  now  of  beginning  stage  plays  in  New  England."  It  was, 
however,  not  until  1750  that  this  first  play,  called  the  "Orphan  or 
Unhappy  Marriage,"  was  given.  It  was  acted  by  two  Englishmen 
and  some  volunteers.  The  result  was  the  almost  immediate  passage 
of  "An  Act  to  Prevent  Stage  Plays  and  Other  Theatrical  Entertain- 
ments." The  framers  of  this  law  believed  that  plays  "occasioned 
unnecessary  expenses,  discouraged  industry,"  and  increased  "immoral- 
ity, impiety  and  a  contempt  for  religion."  A  fine  was  imposed  on 
the  owner  of  the  premises  used  for  any  such  purpose  and  upon  the 
actors  or  spectators,  if  more  than  twenty  persons  were  assembled 
together.  This  law  did  not  prevent  small  private  entertainments, 
which  in  the  early  days  were  called  "discourses,"  and  which  were 
held  quite  frequently. 

The  next  attempt  at  a  public  performance  was  the  "Blockade  of 
Boston,"  written  by  General  John  Burgoyne,  in  the  endeavor  to  im- 
press his  men  with  contempt  for  American  soldiery.  The  play  was 
produced  at  Faneuil  Hall,  in  January,  1776,  when  the  General  was  in 
Boston.  A  caricature  of  George  Washington  had  just  come  upon 
the  stage,  carrying  an  old  rusty  sword,  when  a  sergeant  rushed  in 
and  announced  that  the  Yankees  were  attacking  their  works  on 
Bunker  Hill.  The  audience  believed  this  to  be  a  part  of  the  show, 
but  when  the  order  was  given  to  the  officers  to  go  to  their  posts,  they 
began  to  realize  that  it  was  indeed  the  truth.  There  was  a  rush  to 
escape,  women  fainted,  and  the  performance  came  to  an  abrupt  end. 
Such  was  the  result  of  the  second  attempt. 

A  bill  to  allow  plays  was  introduced  in  1791,  but  did  not  pass, 
whereupon  a  number  of  influential  men  determined  to  erect  a  theatre 
to  test  the  law.  A  building  was  erected  in  Board  Alley,  now  Hawley 
Street,  which  was  then  filled  with  mud  and  livery  stables.  This  "New 
Exhibition  Room"  was  opened  on  August  1,  1792,  under  the  direction 
of  a  Mr.  Joseph  Harper,  who  was  arrested  after  the  performance. 

The  Federal  Street  Theatre,  or  Boston  Theatre  as  it  was  called, 
was  the  first  regular  theatre  built  in  the  city.  It  stood  on  the  corner 
of  Federal  and  Franklin  Streets.  It  was  opened  February  3,  1794, 
and  from  this  date  the  history  of  the  drama  in  Boston  really  begins. 

[  20] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


ARRIVAL    OF    THE   BRITISH   TROOPS   AT   LONG   WHARF 

The  Street  Leading  from  Cornhill 
including  ye  wayes  on  each  side 
of  ye  side  of  ye  Town  House  extend- 
ing easterly  to  ye  sea 

King  Street 

A  number  of  British  ships  of  war  arrived  in  Boston  Harbour  on 
Friday,  September  30,  1768,  and  on  board  were  the  14th  regiment, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dalrymple;  the  29th  regiment,  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Carr;  a  part  of  the  59th,  under  Captain  Wilson, 
and  a  company  of  artillery  with  two  field-pieces. 

The  next  day  at  noon  the  troops  landed  at  Long  Wharf  and  marched 
up  King  Street  to  the  Common,  where  the  29th  regiment  encamped. 
There  was  a  building  near  the  Common  which  Colonel  Dalrymple 
tried  to  procure  for  his  troops,  but  a  shrewd  patriot,  surmising  the 
plan,  had  hired  the  whole  building,  which  under  no  circumstances 
would  he  sub-let.  There  was  no  provision  made  for  the  14th  until 
evening,  when,  after  a  long  wait,  they  were  admitted  to  Faneuil  Hall. 
By  Sunday  night  the  14th  regiment  had  enlarged  its  quarters  by 
camping  in  the  Town  House.  The  detachment  of  the  59th  found 
shelter  in  stores  on  Griffin's  Wharf,  which  lodgings,  however,  were 
not  permanent.  The  occupation  of  the  public  buildings  was  an 
indignity  the  citizens  of  Boston  could  not  forgive. 

The  following  account  of  the  landing  is  taken  from  Deacon  Tudor's 
diary: 

"At  aboute  1  O'clock  Satterday  all  the  Troops  Landed  under  cover 
of  the  Cannon  of  the  Ships  of  War;  The  troops  drew  up  in  King 
Street  and  marched  off  in  a  Short  time  into  the  Common  with 
Muskets  charged,  Bayonets  fixed  (perhaps  Expecting  to  have  met 
with  resestance  as  the  Soldiers  afterwards  told  the  inhabitants)  their 
Colours  flying,  Drums  beating  &  museck  playing,  In  short  they 
made  a  gallant  appearance,  makeing  with  the  Train  of  Artillery  about 
800  Men." 

Another  account  reads  as  follows: — 

"So  that  now  we  See  Boston  Surrounded  with  about  14  Ships,  or 
Vessells  of  war.  The  greatest  perade  perhaps  ever  seen  in  the  Har- 
bour of  Boston." 

[  21  ] 


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STATE      STREET     EVENTS 


The  gaudy  red  uniforms  of  the  soldiers  drew  forth  an  "indignant 
admiration"  and  also  resulted  in  a  pun  from  the  Rev.  Mather  Byles. 
He  said  that  the  people  had  sent  over  to  England  to  obtain  a  redress 
of  grievances  and  that  these  grievances  had  returned  red-dressed. 

Long  Wharf  was  merely  an  extension  of  State  Street,  about  one 
thousand  feet  into  the  sea,  and  one  side  was  lined  with  shops  and 
warehouses.  It  is  described  as  "a  noble  Pier — with  a  row  of  ware- 
houses on  the  North  Side  for  the  use  of  Merchants — From  the  head 
of  the  pier  you  go  up  the  chief  Street  of  the  Town." 

ASSAULT  ON   JAMES   OTIS 

James  Otis,  a  member  of  the  famous  Whig  Club,  was  an  eloquent 
champion  of  liberty  in  Revolutionary  days.  Writer,  orator,  patriot, 
he  rose  to  distinction  as  an  earnest  champion  of  his  country's  rights. 
In  the  summer  of  1769  he  attacked  some  revenue  officers  in  the 
Boston  Gazette. 

A  few  evenings  later,  as  he  was  sitting  in  the  British  Coffee  House, 
a  man  named  Captain  Robinson,  who  was  Commissioner  of  Customs, 
entered  and  began  conversation  with  him.  An  argument  ensued, 
which  became  more  and  more  heated.  Finally  Otis  suggested  that 
they  retire  to  another  room  and  settle  the  matter  in  a  less  public 
place  between  themselves.     Robinson  said: — 

"What  satisfaction  do  you  expect  me  to  give?" 

"A  gentleman's  satisfaction,"  replied  Otis. 

"I  am  ready  to  do  it,"  said  Robinson. 

"Then  come  along  with  me." 

And  Otis  led  the  way  from  the  room. 

As  they  were  going  through  a  door  leading  into  an  entry  Robinson 
seized  Otis  by  the  nose.  Otis  defended  himself  with  his  cane.  Robin- 
son accordingly  fought  with  a  stick  which  he  carried  in  his  hand. 
Blows  fell  thick  and  fast  between  the  two  men,  until  they  discarded 
their  weapons  and  resorted  to  fists — freely.  A  crowd  gathered — 
nearly  all  men  from  the  army,  navy  and  revenue — and  naturally 
belonging,  as  did  Robinson,  to  the  king's  own,  they  took  his  part 
against  Otis.  Otis  did  not  get  fair  play.  He  was  struck  with  cutlasses, 
canes,  and  everything  available  which  the  mob  could  pick  up  and 
throw. 

"  Kill  him !     Kill  him ! "  they  cried. 

[  23  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

The  result  of  the  attack  might  have  been  fatal,  had  not  John 
Gridley  been  passing  the  Coffee  House  at  the  time  when  the  thick  of 
the  fight  was  on.  He  looked  in  at  the  window,  decided  that  Otis  was 
getting  the  worst  of  the  fray,  and  immediately  entered  the  room. 

"It's  a  dirty  usage  to  treat  a  man  in  that  manner,"  said  he,  and 
threw  himself  between  Otis  and  Robinson.  He  said  he  felt  some 
one  pull  him  by  the  right  shoulder  just  as  he  gripped  Robinson's 
collar.  In  the  struggle  that  followed,  Gridley  ripped  Robinson's 
coat  quite  down  to  the  pockets.  After  that  he  received  two  blows 
on  the  head,  the  blood  which  flowed  from  his  wounds  blinded  him, 
and  in  groping  about  to  strike  the  person  who  had  thus  wounded 
him  he  received  a  blow  on  the  wrist  which  broke  it.  He  was  then 
thrown  out  of  the  room.  When  he  returned  it  was  with  a  stout  stick. 
He  met  Otis  running  toward  the  door. 

"I  will  defend  you,"  said  Gridley. 

"I  am  much  obliged  to  you,"  replied  Otis. 

Some  one  told  Otis  to  go  and  get  his  wounds  dressed,  which  he  did. 

"I  heard  divers  voices,"  said  Gridley,  "a  moment  later,  call  'Kill 
him!     Kill  him!'" 

From  the  severe  wounds  which  Otis  received  he  never  recovered. 
His  reason  rapidly  forsook  him.  He  obtained  a  court  judgment 
for  £2,000  against  Robinson  for  the  attack,  but  when  the  penitent 
officer  made  a  written  apology,  Otis  with  great  magnanimity  refused 
to  take  a  penny.  He  withdrew  to  the  country  in  1770  and  resumed  the 
practice  of  law  in  Boston  only  for  a  short  time.  During  the  attack 
on  Bunker  Hill  his  patriotism  again  showed  itself,  and  borrowing  a 
musket  he  appeared  with  the  American  troops  on  the  scene  of  the 
battle  and  did  his  share  in  the  day's  work.  He  was  killed  at  Andover 
in  1783  by  a  stroke  of  lightning. 

Boston  Gazette, 

September  11,  1769. 

Advertisement 

From  a  regard  to  truth,  and  to  the  character  of  a  true  soldier,  whose  honor, 
is  ever,  justly  dearer  to  him  than  life:  It  is  with  pleasure  I  take  this  first 
opportunity  voluntarily  and  freely  to  declare,  in  the  most  open  and  unre- 
served as  well  as  public  manner,  that  in  the  premeditated,  cowardly  and  villainous 
attempt  of  John  Robinson,  Commissioner,  and  his  confederates,  last  week, 
to  assassinate  me,  I  have  not  the  least  reason  to  think,  or  even  suspect,  that 

[  24  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


any  officer  or  officers,  either  of  the  army  or  navy,  were  directly  or  indirectly 
concerned  in  so  foul  a  deed,  except  a  well  known  petty  commander  of  an  armed 
schooner,  of  about  4  Swivels,  who,  if  same  for  once  tells  the  truth,  swore  last 
year  that  this  whole  Continent  was  in  open  Rebellion. 

James  Otis. 


BOSTON   MASSACRE  COFFINS  J   BOSTON,  MABOH,  1774. — FROM 
"AMERICAN    HISTORICAL   RECORD." 

The  initials  on  the  coffins  stand  for  Samuel  Gray, 

Samuel  Maverick,  James  Caldwell,  and 

Crispus  Attucks 


FUNERAL    PROCESSION    OF    THE    MASSACRE    VICTIMS 


"Well-fated  shades!  let  no  unmanly  tear 
From  pity's  eye  disdain  your  honored  bier; 
Lost  to  their  view,  surviving  friends  may  mourn, 
Yet  o'er  thy  pile  celestial  flames  shall  burn. 
Long  as  in  freedom's  cause  the  wise  contend, 
Dear  to  your  country  shall  your  fame  extend; 
While  to  the  world  the  lettered  stone  shall  tell 
How  Caldwell,  Attucks,  Gray  and  Maverick  fell." 

Fleet's  Post,  March  12,  1770. 

The  funeral  procession  of  the  four  men  slain  during  the  "Boston 
Massacre"  was  formed  near  the  place  where  the  event  occurred,  at 
the  head  of  King  Street,  now  State  Street.  The  body  of  Crispus 
Attucks,  the  mulatto,  and  that  of  James  Caldwell,  a  non-resident  of 
Boston,  were  placed  in  Faneuil  Hall  awaiting  burial;  the  remains  of 
Samuel  Maverick,  who  was  only  seventeen  years  old,  lay  in  his  mother's 
house  on  Union  Street,  and  those  of  Samuel  Gray,  at  Benjamin  Gray's, 
his  brother's,  in  Royal  Exchange  Lane.  The  four  coffins,  bearing  the 
inscriptions  "Emblems  of  Mortality,"  were  brought  to  King  Street 

[  25  ] 


f 

f   *     < 

♦  * 

SL^f 

*,jw  > 

,                      "-" 

.• 

7                                       r- 

•    i 

* 

i  to! 

•  ■ 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  THE  BOARD  BILL  OF  THE  JURY  THAT  TRIED  THE  BRITISH 
SOLDIERS  AFTER  THE   BOSTON  MASSACRE 
From  the  original  in  the  possession  of  John  Noble,  Esq. 


STATE      STREET      EVE  S  T  S 


Mr.  Joseph  Mayo  To  Joseph  Otis  Dr 

on  Ace*  of  the  Soldiers  Trie ;  Rex* 


1770 


o  Tenr — 


Nov.  27th  To  Biskett  &  Cheese  &  Syder £1 

To  Suppers  for  14  Me:                                              .    .         7 
To  Lodging  12  Men  (a  2/ 1 

28  To  Breakfast  14  Men  (g,  6/ 4 

To  Bread  Cheese  &  Syder 

x      To  Supper  14  Men  7 

To  Lodging  12  Men  @-  2/ 1 

29  To  Breakfast  14  Men  (a,  6/     . 
To  Bread,  Cheese  &  Syder  .    . 

x      To  Supper  for  14  Men  ( 

To  Lodging  12  Men  (^2/   .    . 

30  To  Breakfast  14  Men  @,  6/     . 
To  Bread  Cheese  &  Syder    .    . 
To  Supper  fa  1 
To  Lodging  12  Men  [ 

Dec.     1     To  Breakfast  14  M   [ 

To  Bread  Cheese  &  [ 
x  To  Pipes  &  Tobacco  [ 
x      To  Supper  14  M  [ 

To  Lodgi: 

To  Breakfast  14  [ 

To  Supper  14  M  [ 

ToLod[ 

To  Brea  [ 

To  Bread  [ 

To  Pip  [ 

To  Supp  [ 

ToLodg[ 


6d 

2 
x 


o  - 

17 " 
4" 
4" 

18  " 

17 " 

6  ;" 
17  " 
4  — 
4  — 
6  — 


TRANSCRIPTION  OF    BOARD   BILL  ON"   OPPOSITE   PAGE 


fss 


%  /■'-  /& .-/ 


w  $ 


H 


>/'"'•*«  <foi •IKtiV. 


Q/l 


■Utatai 


AS/,,,    A 


SECOND   PAGE  OF  BOARD   BILL 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


1770      Brought  Forward £95 

Decr  4       To  Breakfast  14  Men  @  6/ 

To  Bread  Cheese  &  Syder 

x      To  Supper  14  Men  @  11/3 

To  Lodging  12  D°  @  2/ 

5       To  Breakfast  14  Men  @  6/ 

To  Bread  Cheese  &  Syder 

To  Fireing  8  Nights  for  ye  officers 
who  Attended  @  7/6 

.     oldTenr    £118  "   12  "  4 

Is  Lawful  Money      £15  "   16  "  4 

To  Sperites  Licker  o  =  19  =  5 


£9S 

10 

:  10 

4 

<< 

4 

— 

1 

« 

6 

7 

" 

17 

"  6 

1 

n 

4 

— 

4 

a 

4 

— 

1 

a 

6 

— 

ii5 

12 

:  4 

3 

0 

— 

Joseph  Mayo      £16  =15=9 

]  r  Ac1  haveing  Considered  the  Same 
pounds  fifteen  Shillings  &  Six  pence  old  Tenr — 
]  over  Charged  which  is  Equal  to   i8/id  lawfull 
]  llowd  &  paid  out  of  the  County  Treasury  the 
]  teen  pound  Seventeen  Shillings  &  Eight 
In  full  to  Discharge  the  above  acount 
Eliph1.  Pond 

]  illiams — 
[  ]  Miller 

Boston  in  &  for  said  County  on  the 
]  rdered  that  the  same  be  and  hereby 
]  ual  Order  on  the  County  Treasury  for 
]  ight  pence  Lawful  Money  to  the 

Ez.  Price  Cler 
[Filed]  Makoas  Account  1770 

TRANSCRIPTION  OF   SECOND   PAGE  OF   BOARD  BILL 


[  29  ] 


STATE      STREET     EVENTS 

and  placed  each  inside  of  a  hearse.  The  people  of  Boston,  with  the 
consent  of  the  parents  and  friends  of  the  victims,  had  requested  that 
the  funeral  be  made  a  public  one,  in  order  that  the  citizens  of  the  town 
could  better  express  their  grief.  Most  of  the  stores  were  closed,  and 
it  was  ordered  that  the  bells  should  be  tolled  not  only  in  Boston,  but 
in  Charlestown,  Cambridge,  and  Roxbury.  Later  in  the  afternoon 
the  procession  was  formed  six  deep,  and,  followed  by  many  carriages 
containing  the  principal  people  of  the  town,  it  began  to  move  towards 
the  Granary  Burying-ground,  where  all  of  the  four  bodies  were  buried 
in  one  vault  in  the  middle  of  the  cemetery. 

The  Boston  Gazette,  printed  a  few  days  later,  stated  "That  there 
must  have  been  a  greater  number  of  people  from  town  and  country 
at  the  funeral  of  those  who  were  massacred  by  the  soldiers,  than  were 
ever  together  on  this  continent  on  any  occasion."  In  another  place 
the  same  paper  in  describing  the  funeral  said  that  "the  aggravated 
circumstances  of  their  death,  the  distress  and  sorrow  visible  in  every 
countenance,  together  with  the  peculiar  solemnity  with  which  the 
whole  funeral  was  conducted,  surpass  description." 

The  illustrations  on  the  previous  pages  are  taken  from  the  original 
Board  Bill,  which  was  furnished  by  the  keeper  of  the  jail  to  the  jury 
that  sat  in  the  trial  of  the  British  soldiers  who  took  part  in  the  riot 
on  King  Street  in  1770.  -The  original  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
John  Noble,  Esq.,  through  whose  kindness  this  photograph  was  taken 
and  through  whom  this  information  was  obtained.  This  bill  includes 
an  itemized  account  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  Government  in 
boarding  the  jurymen.  From  a  torn  and  tattered  brown  sheet  of 
paper  the  items  may  be  deciphered,  and  it  seems  that  the  jury  par- 
took of  no  great  variety  of  viands,  the  staple  articles  of  their  bill  of 
fare  being  mostly  "Bread,  Cheese  &  Syder." 

The  bill — the  first  of  its  kind  to  be  incurred  in  Boston — is  made 
out  to  the  foreman  of  the  jury  and  begins:  "Mr.  Joseph  Mayo  to 
Joseph  Otis  Dr.  on  Acc't  of  the  Soldiers  Tried  of  ye  29th  Reg't." 
Eliphalet  Pond,  Joseph  Williams,  and  Ebenezer  Miller,  who  were 
"three  of  the  Justices  of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace," 
approved  the  bill,  and  "the  order  of  the  Court  for  its  payment  out  of 
the  Country  Treasury"  is  signed  by  Ezekial  Price,  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court. 

How  this  old  bill  came  to  light  is  interesting.  It  was  found  among 
the  papers  called  "The  Suffolk  Files,"  which  were  done  up  in  bundles 

[30] 


STATE      STREET     EVENTS 

and  boxes  and  stowed  away  in  the  old  Court  House  building,  once 
located  where  the  new  part  of  City  Hall  now  stands.  Tradition 
claims  that  many  of  these  old  papers  were  used  for  bedding  by  the 
British  soldiers.  Mr.  John  Noble's  father,  who  finally  collected  the 
files  and  sorted  them,  found  that  many  extraneous  papers  had  slipped 
in,  and  among  them  was  the  Board  Bill. 

This  old  Board  Bill  has  interest,  not  only  because  it  is  the  first 
of  its  kind  to  be  contracted  in  Boston,  but  because  of  the  perplex- 
ing problem  that  lies  back  of  it.  There  arose  many  questions  as 
to  how  the  jury  was  to  be  kept  together  during  the  trials  of  unprece- 
dented length,  and  the  old  bill  itself  is  ample  evidence  of  how  the 
problem  was  solved  and  how  the  jurymen  were  housed  and  fed  until 
they  were  discharged. 

A  large  part  of  the  romance  of  the  Massacre  is  dispelled  when  one 
realizes  that  the  mob  which  caused  the  row  .was  nothing  more  than  a 
crowd  of  street  hoodlums  attacking  the  British  sentries,  who  could 
not  retaliate  without  risking  a  court  martial. 


"SAM  ADAMS'S   REGIMENTS" 

Governor  Bernard  and  others  in  sympathy  with  the  King's  cause 
continually  referred  to  Samuel  Adams  and  other  revolutionists  as 
worthy  of  "strong  halters,  firm  blocks  and  sharp  axes."  Adams's 
energy  and  persistence  just  after  the  Massacre  resulted  in  the  with- 
drawing from  the  town  of  two  regiments  by  Colonel  Dalrymple. 
Lord  North  was  so  disgusted  that  a  mere  citizen  could  accomplish 
such  a  result  that  he  referred  to  them  as  "Sam  Adams's  Regiments." 

On  the  morning  after  the  Massacre  the  Boston  patriots,  with  revenge 
in  their  hearts  and  on  their  lips,  dispersed  to  their  homes,  meeting 
shortly  afterwards  in  Faneuil  Hall.  There  was  just  one  thing  to  do, 
and  that  was  to  ask  Governor  Hutchinson  to  remove  the  regiments. 
A  committee  of  fifteen  was  appointed,  and  they  repaired  to  the  Old 
State  House,  where  they  met;  the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  his  council. 
There  was  a  quiet,  determined  dignity  in  the  demand  of  the  patriots; 
there  was  vacillation  and  evasion  on  the  part  of  the  representative  of 
the  Crown,  and  the  meeting  was  not  at  all  satisfactory.  There  was 
something  mentioned  about  having  no  power  to  remove  the  troops, 
and  it  was  also  suggested  that  one  regiment  be  sent  away.  The  com- 
mittee returned  to  the  meeting  and  reported  that  they  could  obtain 

[  31  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

the  consent  of  the  Governor  to  remove  only  one  regiment.  As  with 
one  voice,  the  people  shouted,  "Both  regiments  or  none!" 

Seven  of  the  original  committee  again  repaired  to  the  Council 
Chamber  at  the  Old  State  House.  They  were  John  Hancock,  Samuel 
Adams,  William  Molineux,  William  Phillips,  Joseph  Warren,  Joshua 
Henshaw,  and  Samuel  Pemberton,  with  instructions  to  insist  upon 
"Both  regiments  or  none!"  Multitudes  greeted  them  as  they  came 
from  the  church.  "Both  regiments  or  none!"  repeated  Sam  Adams 
as,  with  bared  head,  he  passed  through  the  three  thousand  who  stood 
behind  him  and  his  committee. 

Evening  was  approaching,  and  shadows  hung  about  the  portals  of 
the  Old  State  House,  while  glowing  hearths  inside  shot  their  reddish 
rays  on  the  paintings  of  Charles  II  and  of  James  II  that  hung  on 
the  walls.  There  were  less  noticeable  pictures  of  Belcher,  Bradstreet, 
Endicott,  and  Winthrop.  There  were  also  in  waiting  the  councillors, 
clad  in  gold  and  in  silver  and  in  lace,  and  with  pretentious  wigs,  while 
near  them  stood  the  British  soldiers  in  scarlet.  Into  this  chamber  the 
patriots  entered. 

Suavely,  Hutchinson  spoke: — 

"The  troops,"  he  said,  "are  not  subject  to  my  authority.  I  have 
no  power  to  remove  them."  He  then  mentioned  something  about 
removing  one  regiment. 

Sternly,  Sam  Adams  replied: — 

"If  you  have  the  power,"  he  said,  "to  remove  one  regiment,  you 
have  the  power  to  remove  both.  It  is  at  your  peril  if  you  refuse.  The 
meeting  is  composed  of  three  thousand  people.  They  are  becoming 
impatient.  A  thousand  men  are  already  arrived  from  the  neighbors 
and  the  whole  country  is  in  motion.  An  immediate  answer  is  ex- 
pected.    Both  regiments  or  none!" 

Adams  saw  Hutchinson's  knees  tremble  and  his  face  grow  pale.  He 
waited  grimly  for  the  word  that  the  regiments — both  regiments — 
would  be  removed. 

Back  of  the  arm  that  Sam  Adams  had  raised  to  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  to  Colonel  Dalrymple,  was  the  force  of  waiting  thou- 
sands. The  favorable  reply  came,  and  the  committee  reported  the 
news  to  the  people,  who  were  overjoyed  to  see  the  English  troops 
leave  the  town. 

They  had  come — these  regiments  that  have  gone  down  in  history 
as   "Sam  Adams's" — and   thrust  their  unwelcome   presence  on   the 

[  32  ] 


STJ  T  E      STREET      EVENTS 

patriots.  They  went — fourteen  days  after  Samuel  Adams  demanded 
they  be  removed. 

As  Adams  was  walking  home  that  same  evening,  it  is  narrated  that 
he  met  the  Rev.  Mather  Byles,  a  Tory  and  the  wit  of  the  town,  who 
asked  him  why  he  wouldn't  be  just  as  pleased  to  be  ruled  by  one 
tyrant  three  thousand  miles  away  as  by  three  thousand  tyrants  only 
a  mile  away. 

The  children  took  great  delight  in  watching  the  red-coats  while 
they  were  here  and  were  undoubtedly  sorry  to  have  them  go.  When 
Washington  was  in  Boston  he  asked  a  child  which  soldiers  she  liked 
the  best — the  English  or  the  Yankees.  She  replied  that  she  preferred 
the  red-coats,  whereupon  Washington  is  quoted  as  saying,  "Yes,  my 
dear,  they  look  the  best,  but  it  takes  the  ragged  boys  to  do  the  fight- 
ing." 

JOHN  MALCOLM,  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS,  IS  TARRED 
AND   FEATHERED 

John  Malcolm  was  one  of  the  English  tax  collectors  and,  therefore, 
brought  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the  colonists.  His  career  had 
been  a  checkered  one,  and  before  he  had  been  in  Boston  very  long  the 
citizens  decided  to  treat  him  to  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers,  which  was 
called  at  that  time  the  "new  punishment."  The  quarrel  began  by 
his  threatening  a  boy  who  had  run  into  him  with  a  sled.  Thereupon, 
Hewes,  a  citizen  of  the  town,  called  Malcolm  to  account  for  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Boston  lad.  The  argument  became  heated,  and  Hewes 
threw  a  parting  verbal  shot  by  taunting  Malcolm  with  having  been 
tarred  and  feathered  when  in  Maine  a  short  time  before.  Malcolm 
then  struck  Hewes.  The  news  spread  like  wild-fire,  and  the  towns- 
people promptly  gathered  in  front  of  the  tax  collector's  house  and 
attempted  to  force  an  entrance.  Malcolm  resisted  and  wounded  with 
his  sword  several  of  those  trying  to  enter.  The  mob  then  dispersed 
like  a  whirlwind  to  Henchman's  Wharf,  where  they  procured  tar  and 
two  cases  of  feathers.  They  returned  to  Malcolm's  house,  pulled 
him  out  of  the  window  into  a  cart,  as  shown  in  the  cut  on  the  opposite 
page,  and  then  gave  him  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers.  They  took 
him  to  the  Custom  House  on  King  Street,  where  they  flogged  him 
severely,  and  after  a  four  hours'  journey  around  Boston  with  repeated 
floggings,  he  was  brought  home  more  dead  than  alive.     Either  the 

[  34] 


»     O 


3  w 

•5  o 

n  > 

a.  (_ 

cr 

*<  o 

3*  w 

^  O 

O  ^ 

if  <° 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

tar  and  feathers,  or  the  frost,  or  both  produced  a  skin  affection  for 
the  cure  of  which  Malcolm  spent  some  time  in  England,  trying  the 
while  to  obtain  redress.  The  Revolution  broke  out  while  he  was 
still  airing  his  troubles,  and  he  died  in  London  without  having  settled 
his  case. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE  READ 

"Thus  ends  royal  authority  in  this  State. 
And  all  the  people  shall  say  Amen." 

Letters  of  Abigail  Adams  to  John  Adams. 

Most  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  put  on  their  best  attire  and  went 
to  church  on  Thursday  morning,  July  18,  1776,  although  many  had 
to  stay  at  home  on  account  of  smallpox.  Those  who  went  to  church 
drifted,  after  a  good  sermon,  to  crowded  King  Street  and  the  Town 
House  to  hear  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  There  was 
excitement  everywhere,  infantry  lining  the  streets  and  artillery  being 
drawn  up  in  front  of  the  jail.  Just  as  the  clock  struck  one,  Colonel 
Thomas  Crafts  appeared  on  the  balcony  of  the  Town  House  and  read 
to  the  great  audience  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  "God  save 
our  American  States!"  Outside,  from  street  to  street,  loud  cheers 
were  given  again  and  again,  the  roar  of  cannon  swept  Boston  Harbour 
from  fort  to  fort,  and  the  clash  of  musketry  and  bells  reverberated 
through  Boston  town.  Independence  had  been  declared!  Then,  on 
a  given  signal,  thirteen  pieces  of  cannon  were  fired  from  the  fort  on 
Fort  Hill  and  from  the  fortifications  on  Dorchester  Neck  and  the 
Castle.  Nantasket  and  Point  Allerton  likewise  discharged  their 
cannon  thirteen  times,  the  number  thirteen  corresponding,  of  course, 
to  the  number  of  the  American  states  united.  The  ceremony  was 
closed  with  a  collation  to  the  Gentlemen  in  the  Council  Chamber, 
during  which  many  toasts  were  given  by  the  President  of  the  Council 
and  heartily  pledged  by  those  present. 

On  the  same  evening,  the  King's  arms,  and  every  sign  and  any 
resemblance  of  it,  whether  Lion  and  Crown,  Pestle  and  Mortar,  Heart 
and  Crown,  etc.,  together  with  every  sign  that  belonged  to  a  Tory, 
were  taken  down  and  burned  in  a  huge  conflagration  on  King  Street, 
and  in  order  to  encourage  the  mob  to  do  its  worst  it  is  said  that  a 
great  deal  of  wine  was  distributed  on  this  evening. 

While  the  Declaration  was  being  signed  in  Philadelphia,  it  may  be 

[36] 


3  M 

2  2 

3  W 

CL  _ 

1  ^ 
S  M 

h  * 

2  O 
B.  O 


Si  l-r-l 

s  a 

o  o 

2-  M 

3  > 

»  td 

3  O 


STATE      STREET     EVENTS 

interesting  to  recall  the  remark  attributed  to  Benjamin  Franklin.  As 
one  of  the  signers  was  about  to  affix  his  name  he  said,  "Now  we  must 
all  hang  together." — "Or  we  shall  all  hang  separately,"  retorted 
Franklin. 

CIVIC   FEAST  ON   STATE   STREET 

One  of  the  most  unusual  events  that  ever  took  place  in  Boston  was 
the  open  air  banquet  which  was  held  on  January  24,  1793.  The  cele- 
bration was  given  in  honor  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  news  of 
which  had  been  received  with  much  satisfaction  some  time  before, 
and  the  culmination  of  the  people's  rejoicing  showed  itself  in  this 
original  manner.  January  was  not  a  very  propitious  season  for  an  out- 
door entertainment,  but  the  enthusiasm  was  warm  enough  to  make 
up  for  the  low  temperature. 

An  ox  weighing  one  thousand  pounds  was  roasted  whole  on  Copps 
Hill,  and  its  horns  having  been  gilded,  it  was  raised  upon  a  car  twenty 
feet  high  and  was  drawn  by  fifteen  horses  through  the  principal 
streets  of  the  city  "as  a  peace  offering  to  Liberty  and  Equality." 
Two  hogsheads  of  punch,  each  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  a  cartload  of 
eight  hundred  loaves  of  bread  came  next,  followed  by  many  cele- 
brators.  The  procession  passed  by  Liberty  "Stump,"  where  Liberty 
Tree  stood  before  it  was  cut  down,  then  marched  past  the  residences 
of  Hancock  and  Adams,  who  were  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, finally  coming  to  a  halt  on  State  Street.  Here  a  table  was 
laid  out  extending  from  the  Old  State  House  almost  to  Kilby  Street, 
and  the  feast  began.  The  windows  were  crowded  with  men  and 
women,  and  the  roofs  of  the  houses  and  even  the  chimney  tops  were 
covered  with  sightseers,  who  were  anxious  to  get  a  good  view  of  the 
demonstration.  As  the  feast  progressed  the  punch  began  to  show  its 
effects,  and  pieces  of  the  ox  were  hurled  through  the  air  and  even  at 
the  women  in  the  windows.  In  spite  of  an  advertisement  that  ap- 
peared in  the  papers  guaranteeing  "the  prevalence  of  order  and 
paternal  affection,"  the  dinner  ended  in  a  disgraceful  debauch.  The 
temperance  laws  were  not  observed  as  strictly  as  were  those  of 
Sabbath  keeping,  yet  it  is  difficult  to  picture  staid  Bostonians  of  the 
early  days  revelling  on  State  Street. 

Another  celebration  was  held  on  the  same  afternoon  at  Faneuil 
Hall,  at  which  Samuel  Adams  presided  with  the  aid  of  the  French 

[  38  ] 


STATE      STREET     EVENTS 

Consul,  but  the  four  hundred  or  so  persons  present  were  better 
behaved.  The  citizens  of  Charlestown  drank  the  healths  of  the 
Bostonians  at  four  o'clock,  and  the  compliment  was  returned  fifteen 
minutes  later  with  the  accompaniment  of  an  artillery  salute.  Every 
one  on  this  occasion  copied  the  peculiarities  of  the  French  mob,  the 
cakes  bearing  the  words  "Liberty  and  Equality"  and  the  merchants 
of  Boston  addressing  each  other  as  "citizen."  So  enthusiastic  were 
the  people  on  the  subject  of  freedom  that  they  even  released  the 
prisoners  from  the  jails.  During  the  festivities  a  liberty  pole  sixty 
feet  high,  with  the  ox  horns  at  the  top,  was  raised  in  Liberty  Square, 
and  a  salute  of  fifteen  guns  fired.  From  the  right  horn  flowed  the  flag 
of  France  and  from  the  left  that  of  the  United  States.  Louis  XVI 
had  been  executed  several  days  before,  and  when  the  Bostonians  began 
to  realize  the  bloody  character  of  the  French  Revolution  their  cele- 
brations ceased. 

FUNERAL   PROCESSION   OF   JOHN   HANCOCK 

"Their  Country's  Savior,  and  Columbia's  pride, 
The  Orphan's  father  and  the  Widow's  friend. 
May  future  Hancocks  Massachusetts  guide; 
Hancock!   The  name  alone  with  time  shall  end." 

John  Hancock  died  fighting  for  State  sovereignty.  He  made  his 
last  fight  in  September,  1793.  To  the  Legislature,  Governor  Hancock, 
in  that  month,  uttered  the  words  that  have  grown  in  majesty  as 
years  have  passed:  "I  have,  in  this  case,  done  no  more  than  my  duty, 
as  a  servant  of  the  people.     I  never  did  and  I  never  will  deceive 

THEM  WHILE  I  HAVE  LIFE  AND  STRENGTH  TO  ACT  IN  THEIR  SERVICE." 

Out  of  the  Council  Chamber,  the  assembly  standing  as  he  passed, 
the  Governor  walked  to  his  carriage.  Three  weeks  later  there  was  a 
brilliant  military  parade  in  preparation  on  Boston  Common.  News 
flashed:  "Governor  Hancock  is  dead."  Throngs  that  had  gathered 
to  see  the  soldiers  returned  to  their  homes,  and  the  troops  also  broke 
ranks,  for  Governor  John  Hancock  was  dead! 

The  same  day,  the  Sheriff  declared  Samuel  Adams  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Commonwealth. 

For  a  week  John  Hancock  lay  in  state,  throngs  coming  from  far 
and  near  to  gaze  on  the  face  of  the  noble  patriot.  At  dawn  on  Mon- 
day, October  14,  1793,  bells  began  to  toll,  and  continued  to  ring  for 

[40] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

an  hour  without  cessation.  Flags  in  the  city  and  on  ships  in  the 
harbour  were  placed  at  half-mast.  The  military  corps  of  the  town 
began  to  gather  and  were  joined  by  companies  from  other  towns, 
forming  in  line  on  the  Common.  The  procession,  a  mile  and  a  half 
long,  moved  from  the  Hancock  house  on  Beacon  Street  across  the 
Common  to  Frog  Lane,  now  Boylston  Street,  to  Liberty  Pole,  thence 
around  the  Old  State  House  to  the  place  of  burial.  The  minute  guns 
continued  firing  as  the  procession  passed  into  Court  Street  and  thence 
to  the  Granary  Burying-ground.  Past  shops  with  closed  shutters, 
past  a  hushed  multitude,  the  procession  passed.  Near  the  grave, 
the  military  escort  opened  column,  and  John  Hancock  was  laid  to 
rest,  three  volleys  being  fired  over  his  grave. 

The  original  copy  of  the  order  of  the  procession  is  preserved  by  the 
Bostonian  Society. 

Because  his  strength  failed,  Samuel  Adams  withdrew  from  the 
cortege  on  State  Street.  When  the  General  Court  assembled  the 
following  January  he  said: — 

"It  having  pleased  the  Supreme  Being,  since  your  last  meeting,  in 
His  holy  Providence,  to  remove  from  this  transitory  life  our  late  ex- 
cellent Governor  Hancock,  the  multitude  of  his  surviving  fellow- 
citizens,  who  have  often  given  strong  testimonials  of  their  approba- 
tion of  his  important  services,  while  they  drop  a  tear,  may  certainly 
profit  by  the  recollection  of  his  virtues  and  patriotic  example." 

"BLOODY  MONDAY"  ON  STATE  STREET 

State  Street  was  the  scene  of  a  fatal  affray  on  August  4,  1806,  which 
resulted  in  the  death  of  Charles  Austin,  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
Republican  lawyer,  by  the  hand  of  Thomas  Oliver  Selfridge,  a  Fed- 
eralist lawyer  of  both  social  and  professional  prominence.  The 
affair  caused  a  great  deal  of  excitement,  and  the  day  on  which  it  took 
place  was  remembered  for  a  long  time  as  "Bloody  Monday."  The 
origin  of  the  dispute  was  undoubtedly  political,  although  the  imme- 
diate cause  was  a  quarrel  about  "seven  waste  pigs  and  ten  bushels 
of  green  peas."  On  the  Fourth  of  July  the  Republicans  of  Boston 
held  a  grand  banquet  in  a  tent  on  Copps  Hill.  The  Ambassador  of 
Tunis  was  present,  and  there  was  such  a  rush  for  admission  that  the 
ticket  taker  was  unable  to  perform  his  duty.  As  a  result  the  receipts 
were  not  what  they  should  have  been,  and  Mr.  Eager,  the  landlord 

[41  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


Ceurfrsx 


t  Now  occupied  by  Mr.  Bailey. 


DIAGRAM  OF  THE  SCENE  OF  THE  SELFRIDGE-AUSTIN  MURDER  ON  AUGUST 

4,  1806 

From  "Trial  of  Thomas  0.  Self  ridge" 

of  the  well-known  Jefferson  Tavern  on  Salem  Street,  who  was  the 
caterer,  was  paid  by  the  committee  only  as  much  as  was  actually 
collected.  Selfridge,  acting  as  counsel  for  the  caterer,  brought  suit 
against  the  committee,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Benjamin  Austin. 
Words  passed  between  the  two  men,  and  finally  Selfridge  had  the 
following  notice  posted  in  the  Gazette: — 

Benjamin  Austin,  Loan  Officer,  having  acknowledged  that  he  has  circu- 
lated an  infamous  falsehood  concerning  my  professional  conduct,  in  a  cer- 
tain cause,  and  having  refused  to  give  the  satisfaction  due  to  a  gentleman,  in 
similar  cases: — I  do  hereby  publish  said  Austin  as  a  coward,  a  liar,  and  a 
scoundrel;  and  if  said  Austin  has  the  effrontery  to  deny  any  part  of  the 
charge,  he  shall  be  silenced  by  the  most  irrefragable  proof. 

Boston,  August  4,  1806.  Thomas  O.  Selfridge. 

Mr.  Selfridge  came  in  from  his  home  in  Medford  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th,  and  Henry  Cabot  at  once  told  him  that  Mr.  Austin  had  made 
a  declaration  something  like  this: — 

"  I'll  not  take  Selfridge  in  hand  myself,  but  some  person  on  a  footing 
with  him  will  handle  him." 

Thinking  that  probably  he  would  be  attacked  by  a  bully,  Selfridge 
put  pistols  in  his  pockets,  and  shortly  after  noon  he  started  from  his 
office  in  the  Old  State  House  for  the  Exchange. 

t  42  ] 


STA  T  E      STREET     EVENTS 

Austin's  son,  Charles,  who  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age  and  about 
to  graduate  from  Harvard  College,  accosted  Selfridge  in  broad  day- 
light on  State  Street  between  the  Old  State  House  and  the  Traveller 
office,  now  occupied  by  the  State  Street  Trust  Company.  The 
younger  man  hit  Selfridge  over  the  head  with  a  heavy  cane,  whereupon 
the  latter,  who  was  rather  old  and  feeble,  drew  out  his  revolver  and 
shot  his  assailant.  Splashes  of  blood  came  from  Austin's  mouth  and 
nose;   he  reeled  and  fell.     Cries  from  bystanders  rose: — 

"Who  has  done  this?" 

"Where  is  the  man?" 

"What  has  he  done?" 

"I  am  the  man;  and  I  know  what  I  have  done,"  said  Thomas  O. 
Selfridge.  His  friends  tried  to  get  him  away,  but  he  stayed  on.  He 
remained  until  practically  in  self-defence  he  walked  to  the  house  of 
William  Ritchie  with  a  party  of  his  friends.  When  he  reached  the 
house  he  said  to  one  of  the  party:  "Go  back  to  the  Exchange,  and  in- 
form the  people  where  I  am  to  be  found."  To  another  he  said:  "Go 
for  Mr.  Bell  and  Mr.  Hartshorn,  the  sheriff's  officers,  and  bring  them 
here."  The  sheriff  came,  and  Selfridge  invited  him  to  dine.  The 
meal,  however,  was  disturbed  by  the  fury  of  the  mob  outside.  "  Damn 
him,  he  is  a  murderer!"  they  howled.  In  spite  of  the  sheriff,  the  mob 
increased  in  size  and  anger.  A  coach  was  then  sent  for,  and,  after 
receiving  Selfridge  safely  within,  it  proceeded  to  the  Court  House, 
accompanied  by  the  crowd.  "I  was  literally  obliged  to  escape  into 
prison  to  elude  the  fury  of  democracy,"  remarked  Selfridge.  A 
doctor  was  sent  for,  and  the  head  of  the  prisoner,  which  had  been  badly 
cut  by  Austin,  bandaged.  After  that  Selfridge  talked  for  some  hours 
with  his  friends.  The  case  was  tried  before  Judge  Parker,  the  district 
attorney,  James  Sullivan,  appearing  for  the  prosecution,  Samuel 
Dexter,  Christopher  Gore,  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  and  Charles  Jackson 
taking  up  the  defence.  Thomas  Handasyde  Perkins  was  foreman  of 
the  grand  jury,  and  Paul  Revere  was  foreman  of  the  petit  jury  which 
rendered  the  verdict  of  "not  guilty"  of  murder.  Soon  after  the  ac- 
quittal, mobs  infested  the  town,  burning  effigies,  libelling  jurors  and 
judges,  and  threatening  murder.  The  trial  was  a  most  important  and 
interesting  one  on  account  of  the  many  distinguished  men  connected 
with  it.     A  detailed  report  still  exists. 


[43  ] 


oo     ^ 


s 
s 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


ARRIVAL     OF     COMMODORE     BAINBRIDGE    AFTER    HIS 
VICTORY 

"On  Brazil's  coast  she  ruled  the  roost 
When  Bainbridge  was  her  Captain; 
Neat  hammocks  gave,  made  of  the  wave, 
Dead  Britons  to  be  wrapped  in." 

On  February  28,  1813,  Commodore  William  Bainbridge,  amid  the 
booming  of  cannon,  landed  at  Long  Wharf,  where  he  was  received  by 
officers  and  citizens  of  prominence,  led  by  the  Mayor,  and  escorted  up 
State  Street  by  the  New  England  Guards  to  the  Exchange  Coffee 
House. 

State  Street  was  ready  to  welcome  him,  having  put  on  holiday 
attire  and  dressed  itself  in  flags  and  banners.  His  victorious  frigate, 
the  Constitution,  lay  in  the  harbour  resting  after  her  capture  of 
the  Java  a  few  days  before.  Bainbridge  himself  as  he  marched  up 
State  Street  was  marked  for  the  spectators  on  the  house-tops,  from 
the  throngs  that  pressed  closely  on  all  sides,  by  the  fact  that  he 
walked  with  uncovered  head.  Then,  too,  his  figure  was  erect  and 
noble.  On  his  right  hand  was  the  veteran  Captain  Rodgers,  and  on 
his  left  was  Brigadier-General  Welles;  Captain  Hull,  Colonel  Blake, 
and  officers  following.  A  band  was  playing  on  the  balcony  of  the 
State  Bank.  Under  the  banners  and  streamers  strung  across  State 
Street  the  procession  passed,  while  cheer  after  cheer  from  the  citizens 
greeted  the  victorious  commander.  Under  the  ensign  they  passed 
— the  ensign  that  was  suspended  across  the  street  from  opposite 
houses,  on  which  was  written:  "Hull,  Jones,  Decatur  &  Bainbridge," 
famous  names  in  the  War  of  1812.  In  the  harbour  ships  showed 
their  joy  with  gay  displays. 

On  the  2d  of  March  a  public  dinner  was  given  to  Bainbridge  and 
his  officers  at  the  Exchange  Coffee  House  which  was  attended  by 
Governor  Gore,  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Israel  Thorndike,  T.  L.  Win- 
throp,  and  other  noteworthies  of  the  town.  The  Commodore  and 
his  officers  also  visited  the  Federal  Street  Theatre,  and  as  they  entered 
the  audience  rose  and  made  evident  their  recognition  of  the  popular 
hero  by  an  outburst  of  cheers.  "Macbeth"  was  being  played,  and  one 
of  the  actors  threw  his  hat  into  the  air  and  joined  in  the  applause. 

Commodore  Bainbridge  won  the  respect  of  both  his  countrymen  and 
the  English.     Though  twice  wounded  in  the  fight,  the  winning  of  which 

[  45  ] 


STATE      STREET     EVENTS 

Boston  celebrated  when  Bainbridge  came  to  the  city,  he  continued  to 
command  his  ship  and  personally  saw  that  the  wounded  English  were 
cared  for.  Captain  Lambert  he  had  brought  to  the  Constitution 
and  placed  in  his  own  cabin.  Just  before  landing,  Bainbridge  went 
to  him  and,  placing  beside  him  on  his  cot  the  sword  that  had  been 
surrendered,  said,  "I  return  your  sword,  my  dear  sir,  with  my  sin- 
cerest  wish  that  you  will  recover  and  wear  it,  as  you  have  hitherto 
done,  with  honour  to  yourself  and  to  your  country."  Lieutenant- 
General  Hislop  of  the  British  Army,  in  gratitude  for  the  care  which 
his  wounded  had  received,  gave  Commodore  Bainbridge  a  handsome 
sword. 

ANTHONY  BURNS  LED  DOWN  STATE  STREET  TO  BE 
RETURNED  TO  SLAVERY 

State  Street  was  a  Via  Dolorosa  when  Anthony  Burns,  the  negro 
slave,  was  escorted  to  the  revenue  cutter  that  took  him  back  to  his 
master  in  Virginia.  In  nine  days  he  had  cost  Boston  $30,000,  one 
riot,  and  one  life.  On  the  day  he  sailed,  June  2,  1854,  he  faced  an 
audience  of  20,000  persons  crowded  along  State  Street  from  the  Court 
House  to  Long  Wharf.  Bells  tolled  their  solemn  dirge  in  neighbor- 
ing Massachusetts  towns,  for  on  that  morning  the  arm  of  Massa- 
chusetts had  waved  the  fugitive  back  to  the  South.  With  a  stamp 
of  his  foot  Mayor  Smith  had  said  that  no  Boston  bell  might  sound. 
Still,  a  church  had  been  unlocked  and  the  key  turned  from  without 
upon  a  ringer.  Slowly,  over  the  heads  of  the  people,  the  bell  tolled, 
and  yet  nobody  stopped  it.  The  Mayor  was  busy,  and  policemen  and 
soldiers  faced  livelier  things  than  tolling  bells.  John  K.  Hayes,  cap- 
tain of  the  police,  added  to  the  excitement  by  resigning  his  position, 
as  he  refused  to  assist  in  returning  the  negro.  It  was  three  o'clock 
when  the  Court  House  doors  were  thrown  open  and  Anthony  Burns, 
the  escaped  fugitive,  was  walked  through  streets  lined  with  people, 
soldiers,  and  even  citizens  with  cutlasses  and  revolvers.  At  the  head 
of  State  Street  were  two  cannon  pointed  towards  gathering  crowds. 
It  had  been  proclaimed  that  business  be  suspended,  and  the  shops  on 
the  right  side  of  State  Street  were  ordered  by  the  Mayor  to  be  closed. 
The  American  flag,  draped  in  mourning,  hung  from  many  windows, 
and  from  a  window  near  the  Old  State  House  there  was  a  black  coffin 
with  the  words  "The  Funeral  of  Liberty"  on  it.     There  were  groans 

[46  ] 


STATE      STREET      EFENTS 


THE  MARSHAL'S   POSSE,   WITH  ANTHONY   BURNS,   MOVING   DOWN  STATE 

STREET 
From  "Anthony  Burns,"  by  Charles  E.  Stevens 

and  hisses  for  the  troops  and  cries  of  "Shame!"  as  Anthony  Burns 
was  led  by.  An  old  State  Street  merchant  stretched  a  rope  from  his 
own  warehouse  across  the  street  and  from  it  suspended  the  American 
flag,  union  down.  He  saw  a  man  pulling  at  the  rope  to  release  it. 
"Rascal!"  shouted  the  merchant,  as  he  rushed  to  the  street,  his  long 
white  hair  streaming  in  the  wind,  "Rascal!  desist  or  I'll  prosecute 
you!"  "I  am  an  American  and  I'm  not  going  to  see  the  flag  of  my 
country  disgraced."  "I,  too,  am  an  American  and  a  native  of  this 
city,"  retorted  the  State  Street  merchant,  "and  I  declare  that  my 
country  is  eternally  disgraced  by  this  day's  proceedings.  The  flag 
hangs  there  by  my  orders!     Touch  it  at  your  peril!" 

When  Commissioner  Loring's  decision  was  announced,  Court 
Square  was  cleared  and  every  avenue  leading  to  the  square  closed. 
The  artillery  and  infantry  pressed  back  the  crowds,  while  the  light 
dragoons  cleared  a  passage  through  State  Street.  The  negro,  with  a 
guard  sufficient  for  Caesar  and  an  audience  of  people  in  number  worthy 
any  general  that  ever  marched  in  triumph  from  the  water  to  the  State 
House,  passed  on,  unmoved  by  the  spontaneous  tears  of  Massachusetts 
women  and  by  the  silent  grief  of  Massachusetts  men.  There  was  no 
music  to  enliven  the  march;    nothing  but  the  dull  tread  of  soldiers, 

[  47  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 


THE  OLD  STATE  HOUSE  IN   1850 
From  a  print  owned  by  the  Bostonian  Society 


over  pavements.  There  were  hisses  that  rose  constantly  above 
everything  else.  Anthony  Burns  passed  the  Old  State  House  where 
in  1646  the  founders  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  had 
solemnly  condemned  human  slavery.  As  the  column  went  by  the 
offices  of  the  Commonwealth,  it  was  greeted  with  clouds  of  cayenne 
pepper,  and  a  bottle  of  vitriol  was  thrown  from  the  same  building, 
flying  nearly  across  State  Street,  where  it  struck  the  pavement  and 

[  48  ] 


STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

was  broken  in  fragments.  There  was  trouble  when  the  military 
reached  the  Custom  House,  as  the  people  pressed  about  them  on  all 
sides.  With  fury  the  Lancers,  who  were  stationed  there,  rode  their 
horses  into  the  crowd,  and  the  infantry  charged  with  fixed  bayonets 
into  the  surging  masses.  People  were  driven  like  rats  into  cellar-ways 
and  forced  up  flights  of  stairs  and  into  passages.  John  Milton  was 
taken  to  the  hospital  with  a  sabre  cut  in  his  forehead,  and  William  Ela 
was  assaulted,  beaten  with  muskets,  and  forced  to  the  pavement. 
A.  L.  Haskell  was  attacked  and  injured  by  Captain  Evans  for  hissing 
and  crying  "Shame!"  "Tell  me  your  name  and  business,''  said  Mr. 
Haskell,  holding  up  his  bleeding  hand.  "Evans  is  my  name,"  re- 
sponded the  officer,  "and  my  business  is  to  kill  such  d — d  rascals 
as  you  are!" 

The  procession  turned  into  Commercial  Street,  where  a  company 
with  muskets  was  posted  to  keep  order.  A  truckman  on  horseback 
was  stopped  by  some  soldiers  and  told  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
pass.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  long  line  of  traffic  that  could  get  no 
further.  "Fall  back,"  commanded  an  officer.  "I  can't  do  that," 
said  the  truckman.  The  officer  was  enraged.  "I'll  fire  on  you," 
he  threatened.  "Fire,  then,  if  you  want  to,"  said  the  man  on  horse- 
back. The  order  rang  for  the  soldiers  to  put  percussion  caps  in  their 
guns.  Then  the  truckman  rose  on  his  horse,  bared  his  breast,  snatched 
off  his  hat,  and,  holding  it  above  his  head,  cried:  "Fire!  You  cowards!" 
"Ready!"  said  the  officer.  The  soldiers'  fingers  were  on  their  triggers. 
"Fire!  You  rascals!  You  cowards!  Fire!"  cried  the  truckman, 
waving  his  hat  again.  But  they  did  not  fire.  Instead,  a  constable 
pulled  him  off  his  horse  and  arrested  him.  The  Lancers  at  this  point 
in  the  conflict  came  up  with  their  pistols  cocked.  The  fugitive 
marched  on,  towards  the  vessel  that  was  to  return  him  to  slavery. 

SUBMARINE  WALKING  RACE  FROM  LONG  WHARF  TO 
EAST   BOSTON 

Thousands  of  persons  went  down  to  the  end  of  Long  Wharf  on  the 
Fourth  of  July  in  1868  to  witness  one  of  the  most  novel  races  ever 
held.  Three  expert  divers  had  arranged  an  under-water  walking 
match  from  a  raft  near  Long  Wharf  to  another  one  moored  near  the 
Cunard  Wharf  on  the  East  Boston  side  of  the  channel.  Thousands 
of  people  lined  the  near-by  docks  and  crowded  the  decks  of  yachts  and 

[  49  ] 


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STATE      STREET      EVENTS 

steam  tugs  in  order  to  see  the  unusual  event.  All  eyes  were  centred 
on  a  small  boat  in  which  the  three  divers  were  waiting  for  the  starting 
signal.  Very  soon  a  little  steamer,  called  Grace  Irving,  poked  her 
way  from  the  south  side  of  the  wharf,  with  many  distinguished  guests 
on  board,  including  the  city  committee  and  many  ladies.  The  boat 
anchored  near  the  place  where  the  divers  were  lined  up,  preparatory 
to  jumping  overboard.  At  this  point  in  the  proceedings  the  specta- 
tors were  treated  to  an  unexpected  shaking  up,  for  the  signal  to  start 
was  given  by  exploding  thirty  kegs  of  powder  which  had  been  placed 
in  tin  cans  below  the  surface.  When  Mr.  Ammi  Smith  pressed 
the  electric  button,  the  water  dashed  up  in  geysers,  and  the  hull  of 
the  Grace  Irving  rocked  like  a  cradle.  The  contestants  were  in  the 
water  in  a  second,  ready  to  begin  their  difficult  tramp.  George  E. 
Townsend,  an  experienced  diver,  arranged  and  had  charge  of  the 
contest,  although  he  did  not  enter  the  race  himself.  The  racers  were 
George  Phillips  of  Mansfield,  William  Lloyd  and  Jacob  Palmer,  both 
of  Boston.  Each  of  the  three  men  had  a  boat  to  follow  him,  equipped 
with  men  to  handle  the  life  lines  and  air  pumps.  Palmer's  boat  made 
rapid  progress  at  first,  then  stopped  suddenly  and  went  backwards, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  the  spectators.  It  became  known  later  that 
Palmer's  line  became  entangled  in  some  rocks,  which  put  him  hope- 
lessly out  of  the  race.  The  other  two  contestants  were  on  very  even 
terms,  but  Phillips  finally  won  over  Lloyd,  completing  the  course  in 
seventeen  minutes.  The  victor's  headgear  was  removed,  and  he  was 
handed  an  American  flag,  which  he  waved  joyfully  to  the  crowd,  which 
responded  with  vigorous  shouts  and  the  tooting  of  steam  whistles. 
The  prizes  were  #75,  #50,  and  #25.  On  coming  to  the  surface,  the 
divers  said  that  the  bottom  was  of  bluish  clay,  and  by  treading  on 
this  the  water  became  so  discolored  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  far 
ahead.  Ordinarily,  they  could  have  seen  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  front, 
but  in  Boston  Channel  it  was  very  difficult  to  see  more  than  a  very 
few  feet  away. 


[  Over  ] 
[  51  ] 


AUTHORITIES 

The  following  authorities  have  been  consulted  in  the  preparation 
of  this  brochure: — 

The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  edited  by  Justin  Winsor. 

History  of  Boston,  by  Samuel  G.  Drake. 

Boston  Notions,  by  Nathaniel  Dearborn. 

History  of  Boston,  by  Caleb  H.  Snow. 

Old  Landmarks  and  Historical  Personages  of  Boston,  by  Samuel  G.  Drake. 

Letters  written  from  New  England  a.d.  1686,  by  John  Dunton. 

Historical  Boston  and  its  Neighborhood,  by  Edward  Everett  Hale. 

Life  and  Times  of  Stephen  Higginson,  by  T.  W.  Higginson. 

Boston,  by  Henry  Cabot  Lodge. 

Boston  in  1813,  by  John  Tucker  Prince,  in  Bostonian  Society  Publications. 

Dealings  with  the  Dead,  by  Lucius  Manlius  Sargent. 

Boston  Events,  by  Edward  Hartwell  Savage. 

Boston  Town,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder. 

A  Topographical  and  Historical  Description  of  Boston,  by  Charles  Shaw. 

Boston  Eighty  Years  Ago,  by  Nathaniel  Bradstreet  Shurtleff. 

Deacon  Tudor' s  Diary,  by  John  Tudor. 

Curiosities  of  History,  by  William  Wilder  Wrheildon. 

The  Story  of  the  Old  Boston  Town  House,  by  Josiah  Henry  Benton. 

Boston,  by  M.  A.  DeWolfe  Howe. 

Boston  Slave  Riot  and  Trial  of  Anthony  Burns. 

Anthony  Burns,  by  Charles  Emery  Stevens. 

Theodore  Parker's  Scrap  Books. 

William  Wilder  Wheildon's  Scrap  Books. 

Boston  Fire  Department,  by  A.  W.  Brayley. 

Trial  of  Thomas  0.  Selfridge,  from  Court  Reports. 

Commodore  Bainbridge,  by  James  Barnes. 

Life  and  Services  of  William  Bainbridge,  by  Thomas  Harris. 

Letters  of  John  and  Abigail  Adams. 

Winthrop's  Journal. 

Mather's  Magnolia. 

Wonder-Working  Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour  in  New  England,  by  Captain  Edward 

Johnson. 
The  Lives  of  John  Wilson,  John  Norton,  and  John  Davenport,  by  A.  W.  M'Clure. 
History  of  the  First  Church  of  Boston,  by  Arthur  E.  Ellis. 
Recollections  of  the  Private  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Overthrow  of  the  Tea  at  Griffin's 

Wharf,  in  Boston  Harbor. 
A  Retrospect  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party,  by  George  R.  T.  Hewes. 
The  Historic  Boston  Tea  Party,  by  C.  A.  Wall. 
Taverns  of  Boston  in  Ye  Olden  Time,  "Bay  State  Monthly." 
Ancient  Inns  of  Boston  Town,  "New  England  Magazine." 
Old  Inns  and  Taverns  of  Boston,  "Bostonian." 
Samuel  Adams,  by  Samuel  Fallows. 
Samuel  Adams,  by  William  V.  Wells. 
Samuel  Adams,  by  James  K.  Hosmer.  1 


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Libraries 

Chestnut  Hill,  Mass.     02167 


